Nationale Luchtwegen
Nationale Luchtwegen (National Airways) was the largest airline company of Brunant, based at Van Draak International Airport. It is now defunct and has since been replaced by Brunant Air. Nationale Luchtwegen was Brunant's first airline, and was the former flag carrier of Brunant. The airline had lived for around 30 years, until a series of bad decisions from the last owner of the airline had made the airline partially defunct. The liquidation had led to the aviation crisis, and would not stop until the government had salvaged what is left of the airline into Brunant Air and Air France was thrown out from Brunant airspace. History Foundation Nationale Luchtwegen started after many Brunant citizens and the Royal Family were inspired by the success of Pan Am, BOAC (the predecessor to British Airways), and Air France. After procuring a few used Douglas DC-6, the foundation and operation commencement of the airline began. They made a few round-trips to Nice at the beginning of the airline, and remained like that for a year until it was passed on to another owner, which then expanded the routes that the airline was flying. In January, 1954, Nationale Luchtwegen placed a couple of orders for the then-new DH-106 Comet, the first commercial jetliner in existance. However, due to the crash of BOAC Flight 781, which was using the Comet and the expensive cost that the airline canceled their orders. Golden Age The airline kept its Douglas DC-6s after the cancelation of the DH-106 Comets for four more years, which meant operating on a very short route system until they decided to become one of the first airlines to order the brand new Boeing 707. It was the second airline to get the Boeing 707 after Pan Am received theirs first. The airplane was a smashing success, and Nationale Luchtwegen had got more money than ever before with the Douglas DC-6. After the success, the airline decided to phase out Douglas DC-6 they had bought in the late 40s. The airline, in total, received seven Boeing 707s for service in the airline. During this time, they were the first airline to make a direct flight from Europe to New York (an achievement back then when planes flying from Europe to New York would have to refuel in Gander or Bermuda). This was when people generally agree that Nationale Luchtwegen was at its peak. Problems and Bankruptcy After the executive that led the golden age had died in a mysterious accident, another executive was sent to replace his position. Immediately after he assumed position, he started to fix the "aging" fleet by arranging expensive maintenace repairs, even those that weren't neccessary for the planes. The airline started to lose money from the expensive and unnecessary maintenace costs. In 1973, after being impressed by the sheer power and design of the Airbus A300, he had immediately placed his orders for four Airbus A300s, which would replace the old Boeing 707s. The airline did not receive the orders until May 30, 1974, which is the introduction of the Airbus A300 in public service. However, in June of 1974, the executive finally noticed that the airline was going downhill. He tried to combat against being bankrupt by quickly selling off all seven of the Boeing 707s. While the airline had got some money from this, it was not enough to save the airline itself. The airline soon started to cut back on service to cities, which pissed off the Brunanter population, including the route from Brunant to New York. In July, 1974, the airline had gotten half of the Airbus A300s he wanted (two were already delivered to the failing airline). The executive tried to keep onto the airline, since he did not want to waste the potentional of the newly ordered Airbuses. The airline had managed to stay afloat for a couple of months after a brief surge in ticket sales, but it soon went downhill once more, this time for good. On October 3, 1974, the airline had declared bankruptcy in Brunant courts. The airline, at that point had a very high debt of $-2 million Brunant thaler. The owner of the airline agreed to close down the partially defunct section of the airline and stepped down. These chain of events will soon set off the infamous 1974 aviation crisis. Year of no aviation In 1974, following the liquidation of the now partially defunct Nationale Luchtwegen. No aviation-related company was based in Brunant. European airlines who had been watching the liquidation unfold quickly jumped into being the temporary "flag carrier" of the country. Air France had reached the country and the air travel was soon dominated by the airline. Air France had offered "discounts" for those who were stranded at the airport after the liquidation of NL, but the "discounts" were acutally higher prices than a Nationale Luchtwegen flight. Many were forced to be rip-offed by the airline in order to get their "worth". The scheme soon pissed off the general Brunant population, and a boycott of foreign airlines led by Miles Fort soon happened. The boycott had quickly picked up over 4,000 citizens and was soon protesting in front of the government in Koningstad. The protests continued for months, with citizens petitioning that the government should do something about "the evil airline scamming us." The government was eventually pressured into salvaging the partially defunct airline. The government decided to take the two Airbus A300s that used to be part of the defunct airline and add it to the new fleet of the new airline they were eventually going to commence, Brunant Air. The process of starting the new airline took a few months. Between that time, the citizens of Brunant had stopped paying Air France for flights in and out of the country and started to vandalize the aircraft. In a matter of weeks, Air France pulled out their aircraft from Brunant and would not return until 1989. Flights to France at that point were either provided by Brunant Air and the now defunct Air Inter. In February of 1975, the government commencened operations of Brunant Air, and the boycotts stopped after that. The aviation crisis at that point had came to an end. Category:Airlines Category:Former companies